10 Things You May Not Have Known About Beer

From drunken tricks of the trade, to historical tidbits, whip out one of our ten beer-related factoids at your next social gathering, and you’ll be sure to impress. Hell, maybe someone will even buy you a beer.

1. Barack Obama is a homebrewer.

In 2011, President Obama became the first sitting US president to brew beer in the White House. He reportedly bought a homebrew kit with his personal funds so the White House kitchen staff could help him brew up some special beer for last year’s Superbowl party. The first beer brewed was dubbed White House Honey Ale, but a White House Honey Blonde Ale and a White House Honey Porter have been brewed on other occasions.

3.The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer. Though they originally planned to sail south to a warmer climate, unsafe drinking water made beer the drink of choice on the ship, so dwindling supplies meant an early stop at Plymouth Rock was in order.

4.To keep your beer glass or mug from sticking to your bar napkin, sprinkle a little salt on the napkin before you set your glass down.

5. Though there is no definitive proof, many believe that the saying ‘Mind your P’s and Q’s’ originated at a time when alcoholic beverages were served in pints and quarts. Thus, the saying originally meant to be careful how much you drank.

6. A team of inventors at Kirin Brewing in Tokyo have figured out how to create frozen foam to dispense on top of a beer like soft-serve ice cream. The frothy, frozen head will reportedly keep your entire pint cold for 30 minutes. (While the cold temp could to be detrimental to the recommended serving temperature of many styles, it sure does sound nice on a hot summer day.)

7. In 2007, a Dutch brewery manufactured beer for dogs. Kwispelbier, marketed as “beer for your best friend,” is a special non-alcoholic brew of beef extract and malt.

10. According to the Brewer’s Association, in 2011 there were approximately 250 brewery openings (174 microbreweries and 76 brewpubs) and 37 brewery closings (12 microbreweries and 25 brewpubs) in the United States.